Friday, May 15, 2009

Emotional Week

I went down to California with my son and 2 dogs (Kate and Singe) to visit family. It was a nice week down there, despite the weather.
Risk went on and off of her food towards the end of me being gone. Murray was home taking care of all of the dogs and I told him that it was probably because she had morning sickness. She had been bred and was almost half way until her due date. Some of our girls get some morning sickness about that time. Well it was not morning sickness as I found out when I got home.
I got home on Friday and started mowing our agility field as it had not been mowed in over a week. I always let the dogs run with me, so everyone was out. I noticed that Risk was not her normal self and again chalked it up to her being pregnant. She was showing no other signs, at the moment. After I was done the dogs came up on the deck and I let Risk in the house where she went and laid on a dog bed in the corner of the family room. Totally not like Risk. A little later I fed the dogs and Risk picked at her food. Still no major signs of anything going on.
The next morning I noticed some spots on Risk's dog bed and by then she put herself in her crate for breakfast. I called her out and as she jumped down she was leaking "stuff" out of her vulva (first time this happened). We got the thermometer out and I held her as Murray took her temp. Murray instantly said "this is not good". She had spiked a fever of 104.5. The vet office was open in 10 minutes, so I called as soon as they opened. Made an appointment and went in right away. My vet looked at her and then we took her to ultrasound where it was deemed she had open Pyometra. Open Pyometra is way better than closed Pyo because in Open the puss and fluid drains out and in closed Pyo it stays in the uterus and that needs emergency spay asap.
We treated Risk with antibiotics, pain pills, and anti inflammatory meds along with Sub Q fluids. She seemed as she was getting better and when it was time to give her her evening fluids
I put her out to go potty first. She was stumbling around and had a hard time getting up the stairs. When I laid her down on the dog bed she was shaking and I called my vet, who was now on call. I rushed her in to the vet office as my vet was meeting me there. I took her temp before I left and it was 94.4 degrees. She was in septic shock. We ran another CBC and her levels had improved a "little" since the morning. My vet put in an IV catheter and I took her home with me and the tons of stuff. She was put into a crate on a warming blanket and blankets on top of her. She was on IV fluids all weekend and then on Monday I took her back into the vet to be checked. She was improving a little, but not enough to take the catheter out. We kept her on it until Wednesday and we decreased her fluids from Monday to Wednesday. She was now eating and drinking on her own. The catheter was removed on Wednesday and she continued on her meds. It seemed as if she were improving little by little and it was a slow process. That was until yesterday. She seemed quiet, but when Murray got home she cuddled with him, so I just thought she was a little depressed from not hanging out with the other dogs. I took her temp as she was still on a temp check schedule. She had spiked another fever, but not as bad as before. I put her on Sub Q fluids before bed and put her in a crate next to my bed (again). She was leaking a little fluid from her vulva, but we knew this would happen as she healed. Well I got up MANY times during the night to take her potty and check her temps. Her temp went down, but the fluid kept coming out. I called my vet in this morning and told her what was going on. She had me continue with Sub Q fluids and now I had to put her on 1 more antibiotic because her culture came back positive with e-coli.
I am happy to say that tonight Risk is doing good and she ate everything. I took her out on a leash while I fed horses and sheep and she was super happy. I know from the past not to let my guard down, but it is great to seem by Risky Bisky feeling better and have the sparkle back in her eyes.
I have not posted any of this because I have been totally drained and also no time to write as I have had to take care of Risk, Connor and the other dogs.

Here is a picture of Risk at her worst. She is laying on a heating pad with blankets on top of her. She is also hooked up to an IV.


The next 2 pictures are of Risk on Wednesday, right before we went to the vet to get her catheter out. She was feeling good then.



Risk snuggling with Murray last night when she did not feel good. Oh poor girly, but good husband!


Now I keep my fingers crossed that she keeps on improving and doesn't do any more crashes.